Young rising star Kalle Kuusava is to make his Finnish opera-conducting debut with Madama Butterfly at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in summer 2018. He does, however, already have considerable operatic experience outside his native Finland: at the Norwegian National Opera, the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, in Zurich, Vienna and elsewhere, and is engaged to conduct at least in Saigon, Istanbul, Moscow, and at the Monte Carlo Ballet.

Kuusava took an upward rise in his career on winning the European Conductors Competition in Oslo in 2013. He has conducted many symphony orchestras in Finland, and has been assistant conductor at the Opera Festival, too – when Madama Butterfly was last performed there in 2014. In other words, his Savonlinna appearances in the 2018 season mark his Finnish debut as a fully-fledged conductor of opera.

The Savonlinna Opera Festival’s Madama Butterfly will premiere on July 9, with further performances on July 12, 17, 21 and 26. The Festival is offering a special Christmas reduction of €30 per ticket on bookings made by Christmas Eve (December 24, 2017) at the latest.